


but she signalled...

by otterintheroom



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Character Death Fix, F/F, Fix-It, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-23
Updated: 2020-01-23
Packaged: 2021-02-27 03:17:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 14,020
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22380118
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/otterintheroom/pseuds/otterintheroom
Summary: Before the happenings of the Infinity War, Maria Hill and Natasha Romanov had a secret that was destined to be revealed. Will they be able to hold onto each other in this world that is getting messed up every day? -- Fix it fic that starts before infinity war--
Relationships: Maria Hill & Natasha Romanov, Maria Hill/Natasha Romanov, natasha maria
Comments: 2
Kudos: 61





	1. Chapter 1

Maria was ready to head back to her apartment after a busy evening. She locked her office and briefed Tony that she was leaving. She respectfully, yet mildly smiled to her colleagues on the way out of the facilities. Just when she was walking out the door she heard her phone beep three times and she knew exactly who that was because one beep was Fury, two beeps was Tony and three beeps was Nat. Maria searched her phone from her bag and picked it up as soon as she found it. “Hey Nat, what’s up?” she asked.

Listening to her answer, she looked shocked and she immediately ran back into the building. She looked furious, yet a bit heart broken. After she made her way into the Avengers section, she quickly knocked on Nat’s room. Maria saw Natasha was sitting on a chair with her legs up on the table. She looked at Maria and motioned her to lock the door, even though Nat was trained not to show any emotion, this time even her face was down. 

“Hey...” Maria said almost silently. There was a really heavy atmosphere in the room and she wanted to break it.

“They told us someone’s coming, but we still have to protect Vision and for the first time in my life,” Natasha hesitated, “I feel scared, I don’t even want to be scared because that’s not who I am, you know that I am not trained for that, but I can’t stop myself from feeling it.” She solemnly looked at Maria’s eyes and found no judgment.

Maria put her arm around Natasha and started talking with the soothing voice of hers “Nat, how long have we been together? We saw the fall of SHIELD when we were in SHIELD, we were in New York in the Battle of New York, I mean we were in the same room while Ultron was being created and at this point danger comes at us. We’ve been through everything and no matter how hard the circumstance we always make it through.” Maria reached out to Nat’s cheek. “Look at me,” She said, looking at Natasha’s eyes. “I know this one is different, something from the outside of our atmosphere wants to invade our world and all we have to do is to fight for what’s truly ours, it’s our only chance to not lose it and I am not losing you Romanoff.” 

Natasha captured Maria’s lips with hers and felt her smile. She was feeling a bit better but still the thought of facing something they don’t know anything about frightens her. 

It was their seventh year together but since they were both agents, there were a lot of times that they didn’t see each other for weeks and even months, but they made it work because of what they have was something real.

Maria slowly broke their embrace and searched something from her bag and Natasha was watching her with curiosity in her eyes.

“Did you lose something?” Nat asked.

Maria shook her head. “I didn’t, I was looking for this.” Maria took out a black bracelet. “I was waiting for your next mission to give you this. When you touch the screen you can see my coordinates and if you are in danger you just need to press the button and I will get a signal. Look I have one too.” Showed her wrist and the button she would use if she is in danger. Nat was moved from Maria’s sweet gesture. She put on her bracelet immediately and smiled. 

“It matches my suit, that’s a nice touch.” Nat said looking at Maria’s eyes. 

“It does, when you work with Tony designing stuffs for the team all day, you kind of get the gist.” The agent playfully said.

They both knew the time to go to Scotland was now and Nat had to leave, again. It was always hard for Maria to send her away but she knew she would always come back. Her family, her home was here in the facility with Maria and the Avengers. Maria stroked Nat’s now blond hair, thinking about the ways Natasha had to do to become invisible from the public.

Maria and Natasha kissed for the last time that moment, longing for each other’s ghost will haunt them as they left the room and started walking to the Quinjet. They are walking in a stable pace with a considerably formal distance from each other, feeling each other’s presence as long as they could have. 

They met with the Captain and Falcon at the boarding area. After Nat made fun of Cap’s new beard, Maria formally saluted him. 

“Agent Hill, aren’t you supposed to be at home? Do you ever even go there?” He asked kind of jokingly, but still serious. 

“Agent Romanoff said that there was an emergency so I decided to stay. If you need to reach me I will be at the facility and you know how to contact me.” She said not showing any emotions and that made Steve to clear his throat awkwardly as she looked inside the jet to have a final check and then she signalled the staff to prepare it for take-off. Nat was checking her guns and still making fun of Captain when Maria went next to her. 

“Come back safe Agent Romanoff.” She said without any eye contact and had an opportunity to held Natasha’s hand one last time, immediately retracting herself from the other woman. Maria knew she can’t control herself from stopping Natasha, which was why she had to give a respectable distance between them.

“I always do...” Nat replied, smiling to her, even though she knew she’s hurting. She would come back for Maria, she always does.

Maria approached Steve, saluting him a goodbye and opened the gates to see them go. It was always hard for her to see Nat go but she always knew she would find a way back. Natasha was the best agent that Maria ever knew, so her head was empty of worries. 

The Commander marched back to the control room to check on the operation. When she went there everybody was in a bit of hurry. Pepper was running around, trying to call someone on the phone. Maria slowly walked next to her and touched her shoulder gently, “Pepper, what’s the matter?” she asked. Pepper looked at her with relief.

“Oh Maria, you know how to reach your boss. I was talking with him and the line cut off. He just said he was in space with the kid. Can you please reach him? I am worried sick.” She really did looked worried. Maria would always get uncomfortable around vulnerable people but she learned to work her way through it. She immediately nodded and went to her desk trying to reach either Tony or Peter. The Peter suit was newer so she managed to connect to it and thankfully the kid answered the call.

“Hello?” He asked. His voice was distorted since he was really out of range. 

“Peter, this is Agent Hill. Please tell your clear location and are you with Tony?” Maria asked quickly since she knew the line was weak. 

“I am in a spaceship and yes, with Mr. Stark.” He replied, but his sweet, young voice was disturbed by many technical sounds. 

“Peter, Peter?” Maria knew she lost him but she still gave it a try. It was her job to take care of him since Tony made her promise that he would never get hurt. It was actually forbidden for him to join any operation during finals period but she knew Peter was a true avenger and would do anything to help people around. She quickly found Pepper and told her what Peter told her. 

Pepper did not look relieved which was understandable since Tony and a teen was in a spaceship going somewhere far far away off the horizon. They knew they couldn’t do anything about it, so Maria welcomed Pepper to her office and made some coffee. Even though she was trying to calm Pepper, her eyes were always on her computer. She was of course getting instant updates from Nat’s operation. Just when she was sipping her coffee, she got a signal on her ear piece. 

“Agent Hill, the team is heading to the facility. Vision is injured and we need an instant health care.” 

“Okay, I’m on it” she said to the agent talking on the other end of the ear piece. “Pepper, Vision is injured. I need to gather the health staff immediately. Will you be okay here?” she asked getting ready to leave her room. 

Pepper nodded and replied. “I’ll head back to the operation room, because I want to be the first one to yell at Tony if he picks up.” She slightly smiled wanting to lighten the mood of her being worried sick to Tony. Both of the ladies leave the room and their roads parted when Maria turned to the health care center. She looked inside and couldn’t see any of the nurses and doctors. 

She went to their dorms and knocked slightly. “This is Agent Hill, we have an emergency. You have 5 minutes to get ready and meet me in the health care center.” she said strictly. She never got along with the health team. They were always late to the briefings and didn’t obey her rules of sterilizing the workplace. 

Maria sighed and touched her bracelet as saw that Nat’s location was near the facility. So, she got impatient and started walking around the health care center waiting for the team. Finally after 8 minutes they were here. 

“You are late.” She said, sounding annoyed. 

“It’s just 3 minutes, what is the big deal?” The doctor said rolling his eyes at Maria.   
“You are working with the Avengers. Now, you will be working with probably the most important stone in the universe. All I want is some accuracy and some responsibility. Damn do I miss SHIELD?” she also rolled her eyes, not minding the doctor anymore. 

She again touched her bracelet and saw that they were nearly here. She went to the airstrip waiting for the Quinjet to land. Accurately 4 minutes later the jet was here, when the doors opened Wanda and Sam quickly carried Vision inside the facility nodding their head respectfully at Maria. Nat and Steve were at the back walking slowly. 

Maria and Natasha’s gaze met and that was why Nat intentionally slowed her steps more so that Steve would move further away and can’t hear what she has to say Maria. Maria saluted Steve with a slight smile then walked next to Natasha. She had some bruises on her forehead but didn’t seem to care. 

“See, I told you I would come back safe” Natasha said smiling. 

“You always do.” Maria smiled even more and winked at her.


	2. Chapter 2

Maria was taking care of Nat’s bruises even though she insisted that they were okay while everyone was around Vision. He had some troubles in his circuits but the real problem was the psychopaths that were after the soul stone. Vision was begging Wanda to destroy it, but everyone was so against the idea. Steve came next to Nat and Maria to take some briefings on the whereabouts of Peter and Tony. 

“Well, last thing that we know of is they are with a witch in a spaceship and then we lost the contact again.” Maria said still putting some medication on Nat’s forehead. 

“They will be fine, Tony is a smart fella.” Nat answered looking at Steve, “He will find a way back home.” Hissing softly as Maria dabbed it on a specific part that was hurting.

Maria chuckled at the woman glaring in front of her, but Steve didn’t paid attention to them because he was worried, he knew that this time the problem was big, but he had no doubt they will get through it. He was just afraid of what they might lose in the process.

“Hey Captain Beard, come on stop being moody. I am telling you, Tony will be okay and as long as the kid is with him they will be fine.” The Black Widow said smiling to the Captain, Maria just nodded at her encouraging her old friend.

Steve smiled; he had to because he knew Natasha has been going on and on about his beard as she did all the way to Europe and back. He even started thinking she was attracted to him at some point but that idea seemed to make Nat pretty uncomfortable every time. Steve realized that even though they were such good friends or even a family, Nat was still a pretty private person. She would hang in her office alone and go back to her apartment all alone. The only person he saw her talking without threatening was Maria and it was because she was a kind boss, he thought. 

Maria was done taking care of Nat so she walked away to check on Vision. She immediately realized that they had to remove the stone somehow without damaging him. She knew since Tony wasn’t there only people that could do this were in Wakanda. She quickly went to see the Captain to talk about this issue.  
“Steve...” Maria sprinted and caught him while he was leaving to his office “Do you have a minute?” 

“Yes, is there an issue Agent Hill?” Steve asked, a bit startled by the woman’s approach.

“We can’t keep Vision here,” She was looking serious as usual so Steve knew it was important, “The stone needs to be destroyed. Tony is not here, so you need to take him to Wakanda.” 

After a minute trying to evaluate the situation, he nodded his head as approving her and thanked her. Steve went back to the emergency room while Maria dialled Nat’s number. Nat opened the door with her “agent voice”

“Hey Nat, can you meet me in my office?” She sounded pretty sad and she didn’t even know why “I just want to see you.” 

Nat hung up the phone and quickly went to her office. When she knocked on the door and there was Maria’s sad voice again. Nat hated hearing it even though it was the first time she heard it. Natasha locked the door behind her and looked at her girlfriend, sitting on her desk writing something on her desk. She folded the paper in half and looked directly at Nat’s eyes. Natasha realized that her eyes were wet, indicated that she cried, and Natasha didn’t had any idea on why. 

“Maria…” Nat said with an almost silent voice, “What’s going on?” she asked worriedly.

“You’re going to Wakanda, you’ll be away again.” Maria said trying to mask her sadness. “You just got back.”

“I know but I always come back, that’s the deal you know.” Natasha said trying to cheer her up, but her voice cracked saying that as she felt herself also becoming emotional. 

“Yes, you do...” Nat knew this was going to continue with something that is going to hurt “but I finally got why you were scared earlier. You knew that this will be different, now I get it too. What if I never see you again? Then what happens to our dreams moving to Canada and live a quiet life in the woods. It always sucks to see you go, but this time I feel like...” the tears in her eyes starts to slide down slowly as she continues “that this is it, you know. We only get so many chances of reunions, but what if this is the last one?” 

Nat was truly heart broken and loss of words seeing Maria this vulnerable. Every time when she was feeling low Maria was her rock that she could depend on, but seeing her helpless, she never saw her like that. Natasha made her way across the room and embraced Maria to cover up her silent weeps. 

“Hey, it’s okay to feel or be vulnerable from time to time but you have nothing to worry about. Yeah maybe normal people get limited reunions but we are no way normal. I mean we are a gay couple in SHIELD and no one even knew about it.” Nat felt Maria chuckled as she just smiled and continued. “I promise that we will be fine and we will get that house in the woods as we discussed, nothing’s going to stop us.” Maria slightly pulled away and saw Natasha was smiling at her as she was saying those words. She stroked back the piece of hair that fell on Maria’s face and lovingly caressed her cheeks. “I love you and I will always come back okay?” Natasha made a promise that she wanted to keep as long as they were together.

“You better...” Maria said smiling “and I love you too.” 

Maria pulled Natasha closely to her body and just sunk right there and then, feeling comfort with the other woman in her arms.

At that moment, it felt like that something that would glimpse across your eyes when you were about to die, it was pure, full of love and most importantly, special just for the two of them. They never wanted to leave each other’s embrace but of course, they had to say goodbye to one another again in the matter of time. 

A Quinjet to Wakanda was ready to go and when Nat got that signal from the Captain, she placed a little kiss on Maria’s lips and stood up. Maria felt Natasha’s lips lingers a little longer, she smiled on her own. 

Then it was this damn time again, saying goodbye to the person who she loved the most in the whole world without even looking like they are friends. She got up checked on the mirror if the fact that she cried was visible and followed Nat as they walked down the corridor. She wanted to hold her hand so bad but she knew they need to keep themselves a secret for as long as they can. They never had the pleasure of walking side to side holding hands, or doing anything slightly intimate. That was why she sighed lowly. Even though Maria was so done, because she just wanted everyone to know that she loved this amazing woman and it sucked to see her go every time. 

When they arrived at the boarding area they saluted the Captain and Maria again checked if everything was ready. She gave the signal to the pilot that he could prepare for boarding and Steve also took his place in the jet after that. 

Nat was also boarding when she heard Maria’s voice behind her. She looked back and saw her walking up to her. While Nat was looking at her with confused eyes, Maria grabbed her face and kissed her. Their lips were dancing as if they were created to be coordinated with each other. Everyone on the jet was so confused of what was going on. When their lips parted, Natasha looked at Maria smiling, didn’t know what to say, she just love her so much was all she can thought about.  
Maria slowly walked away, as she said something that would circle in Natasha’s head for a very long time.

“Don’t die.”


	3. Chapter 3

When the jet took off, Nat was sitting in her place slightly smiling and Steve was looking at her with pretty confused looks. He realized he never saw her that happy like after Maria kissed her. After a solid ten minutes of awkward silence, Steve couldn’t hold himself from talking.

“So, Agent Hill? What’s up with you two?” Steve asked. He actually felt like a father asking this question.

“Okay dad, she is my girlfriend... for 8 years.” Nat smiled and looked at him to catch his reaction. He was absolutely so shocked with an open mouth as he started stammering.

“E-eight y..y..YEARS! Your relationship is a second grader.” Yes, he was actually loss of words. “Why didn’t you tell us?” 

“Well, we were both at SHIELD so we didn’t want to show our soft spot to the world so that they could use it against us. After SHIELD, I guess it never came out.” Nat was really having an amazing time teasing Steve. She never saw him this shocked before. 

“I... I didn’t know you were into girls.” Steve said still in shock of the events.

“Well, I never was into boys.” Nat laughed watching Steve’s confused eyebrow movements. She knew, he was masking his true reaction to remain professional but his eyebrows really weren’t helping. “Yeah grandpa, I am a lesbian so is Maria.” Nat was cracking everyone in the jet up with Steve’s reactions. 

“Oh.. that’s cool so you and Bruce?” Steve asked to fill up the spaces in his puzzled brain. 

“Never was a thing for me, I was with Maria and it was to calm Hulk up a little bit. Sorry Bruce.” Nat smiled looking at the also pretty confused scientist. 

“No.. no it is not important. Umm.. congrats with Agent Hill.” Bruce tried to sound genuine but it was not working. 

After a really awkward trip for everyone but Nat, they were in Wakanda. Bruce and Rhodey were discussing rather they should salute T’challa since he was a king while Nat and Captain were walking at the front. After small chatter between T’Challa and Steve, he reunited with Bucky. It was actually a sweet moment between the two super soldiers. They all went to see Shuri since she was the only one smart enough to figure a way out. 

Nat was getting more worried with every step she took, even though she knew she’s safe in Wakanda. She just knew that bastard was coming. She checked on her bracelet and saw that Maria was in the facility which in fact made her feel a bit more relaxed since she was in a safe spot. She decided to call her since now everybody already knew they were a couple. She dialled and waited for her to reply.

“Hey Nat, is everything all right?” Maria answered breathing heavily. 

“Yeah, just wanted to hear your voice, why do you sound like you are in a rush?” Nat asked a bit worried.

“Nick just called and we’ll be meeting in the SHIELD headquarters. He’s starting an operation to find Tony with the handful of agents he has left and I am one of them.” Maria said. The fact that she was in her car driving a little fast was really recognizable. “But I’m really glad that you called, it made me feel a lot better.”

“That’s good to know, just be safe. I love you.” Nat said smiling through her phone. 

“I love you and stay safe too, I will see you soon.” Maria answered and closed the phone. It was obvious that she believed Nat would come back, although Natasha was really worried this time. 

She joined Bruce on watching Shuri work on Visions neurons. She was amazed by the work she was doing. Just when they were all watching Shuri and be mesmerized by her works, T’challa alerted the Avengers that there was a disturbance in the barrier so they should all get ready for an upcoming battle.   
Steve gathered his new shield and Bruce got into one of Tony’s suit since he was having troubles with becoming hulk lately. Everyone was there lined up on the border of Wakanda waiting for the enemy. They had to fight until Shuri removed the soul stone and Wanda demolished it. They saw one of Thanos’ guardians that fought with Sam, Nat and Steve in Switzerland. Now, she was not open to any negotiations. She waited there looking as her army of weird aliens started attacking the wall. 

T’Challa yelled “Wakanda forever!” to alert everyone that this might be it. They realized that the creatures were trying to weaken the border so that they can attack from behind. The order to open the border was given and everybody was ready to run for their, actually for the half of the universe’s, lives. With Black Panther and Steve’s orders, they sprinted towards the opening of the border where the ungodly creatures await to them to at least prevent them from getting to their master. 

Nat was on her own fighting with her skills and she thought she was doing pretty well until the enemy got larger and larger. She still fought as well as she can but she was losing her hope just when Thor came to save them for a while. He was stronger than they had ever seen him. He defeated a large amount of creatures but they kept coming. Steve and Thor, Nat and Okoye were battling side by side when the ground started shaking. Some type of a death truck emerged under soil coming to them at a stable pace. Just when Nat was about to lose hope, Wanda came into the battlefield to stop the trucks. 

“Why has she been up there all this time?” Okoye asked admiring the power of her but even the Scarlet Witch had a weak spot as well, Vision. When she heard that he was left unprotected she wanted to go back to him to protect him but Proxima didn’t approved that. She punched Wanda on the head making her fall onto the ground. 

“He is going to die alone, so will you.” Proxima said aiming her sword to her. 

“She’s not alone.” Nat said from Proxima’s behind. Okoye, Wanda and Natasha started battling against Thanos’ guardian until she was dead.

“That was gross.” She said with Proxima’s blue blood all over her face. She again pressed on her bracelet and saw that Maria was in secret SHIELD headquarters and she got back up to continue fighting. She was always in the field against the creatures but after a while she felt a cold breeze in the atmosphere. It was like everything went dark, like something bad happened. She looked around and saw that the creatures were returning. 

Natasha started to run into the forest to find Steve, ask what happened when she realized that people around her started disappearing. She kept running while more people were turning to dust. She was confused, did they actually lose? She kept running until she found Steve sitting next to Vision’s dead body. The stone was gone and then she realized that they really did lose this time. She was having hard time taking in what was happening. She put her hand on Steve back just when her bracelet started giving her a signal, a signal from Maria. She started hyperventilating and her vision got blurry from tears filling up her eyes.

“We.. we have to go back.” she said with her cracking voice.

“What? Where?” Steve asked still heartbroken from the lost.

“To New York, Steve we have to go back. She signalled Steve! She signalled!” Natasha said crying while she dropped on the floor on her knees next to Vision. Steve turned back and put his arms around her.

“Nat what is going on? Who signalled?” He asked not knowing what the sudden breakdown was about or anything about the two having a communication device.

“Maria... she never signalled before Steve. She’s in danger. We have to go back.” Nat said sobbing on her old friend’s shoulders. 

He knew Maria was also gone with the snap so did Nat but she didn’t want to believed that. She pressed on the button to see her location but it kept giving her an error. That little beep that came out of her bracelet was the most heart breaking sound for her. Maria signalled and she wasn’t there to protect her as she promised. 

“Steve... we have to go back.”


	4. Chapter 4

In the jet on the way to home, Nat was so sad and everyone never seen her so devastated like that. Steve and her were sitting next to each other so the man wrapped his arms around her to comfort as much as he can through her silent weeps. She would obsessively touch her bracelet to see the error sign once again. Natasha was frustrated because she thought she would be the one to fade away and not Maria. She was supposed to be safe back home waiting for Natasha to come back.   
Natasha placed her head on Steve’s chest and hold his hand. “Steve, I don’t feel well.” She said with her voice stretched with all the crying. 

“I know it hurts but we will find a way. We will get them back, her back. Don’t worry...” Steve said but he saw Nat passed out on his lap even before he could finish his sentence. He patted her shoulder to wake her up and she slowly opened her eyes. It was visible that Natasha was still a bit delusional. 

“Maria... is that you? I love you baby please.. please come back.” She said looking up at the ceiling. This scene was breaking Steve’s heart. Even though Natasha being with a woman was really new for him, he still got that Natasha loved Maria so much. 

When they arrived at the facilities, one of the officers approached Nat with a signaling device they found under Hill and Fury’s car. They knew this was something important to save them so Bruce connected to a power device so that it would continue giving out the signal. While Nat was staring at the device with her puffy red eyes, she heard a noise from his back. It was a blond woman wearing some type of an armour asking where Fury was.

“Who are you? How do you know Fury?” Nat asked with a confused voice.

“I said where is Fury, didn’t you hear me?” The blond woman answered.

“Look, we are all really tense here. I am trying to be polite, who the fuck are you?” Natasha replied. Steve got between the two women. 

“Okay Nat calm down, hello I am Steve Rogers. Fury is also one of the lost in Thanos’ snap just like many others. Nat also lost a very dear one so please don’t get on her nerves right now.” Steve said politely. The blond woman was looking a bit more relaxed now. 

“I am sorry, I’m Carol Danvers, an old friend of Fury and he used to call me Captain Marvel. Who is Thanos and how can I kill him?” Carol asked ready to jump on the mission. 

“Don’t you think we would be on it if we knew? Look Captain Marvel you might be wearing fancy suits and be powerful but we are the Avengers. We were here defending the galaxy from this maniac while you were... I don’t even know what you were doing!” Nat aggressively answered.

“Nat, please calm down.” Steve tried to calm her down but it wasn’t working. He didn’t expected it to work anyway. 

“I am sorry I was defending other planets who weren’t lucky enough to have the Avengers.” Carol answered with a sarcastic undertone. Steve knew this would turn into a huge fight so he took Natasha to the control center while Thor was talking with Carol. Bruce said that there was another energy outburst from another planet which can only be done with the stones. 

Avengers and their new buddy Carol decided to go to Thanos’ planet. On the way Nat told everything about her and Maria to Carol as a bonding moment. How they were secret for 8 years and how they couldn’t even spend a night together after the civil war. Carol was shook by their story but she decided to hide her emotions. She also had a Maria herself that no one knew. She got what Nat was feeling very well since she too needed to leave her loved one a lot for her missions. Carol gave Nat a comforting smile and got out of the spaceship to see if Thanos has missiles around the planet. She came back flying and said that it was all clear. 

It was actually a bit worrying that a selfish, heartless assassinator like Thanos won’t have anyone or anything to protect him. He hurt many people, many of which was innocent so they barged into his little house surrounded by hay fields. It looked like a retirement house but creepier since he demolished half of the universe to retire. They entered his house only to see that he, that maniac, destroyed the stones... all of them. Nat was heartbroken, she really thought this was the way to their victory. She watched as Thor cut off his arm and his head without showing any emotions. Even though she wanted him dead, that disgusting piece of meat on the floor was not bringing her girlfriend back. 

She turned back and started walking to their spaceship fast and steady. There was nothing to do here, nothing was going to change that this psycho on the floor really thought this was the best way to bring balance to the universe. Maria did nothing wrong, Natasha thought. 

She was always the one to take the high road, do what is best. She was the one that assassinated tens of people for the russian government, she was the one that did all the dirty business. Why did she got to be the one to go. Nat wasn’t sad anymore, she was furious. She was furious to the fact that they never got the chance to buy their cabin in the woods and adopt a cat. They couldn’t get their happily ever after with all their service to the world. She was just gone, but this wasn’t the end Nat though sitting down on her seat. This was a challenge that’s for sure but it wasn’t the grand finale of their play. She was going to bring Maria and every person Thanos wiped away, whatever it takes...


	5. Chapter 5

It has been 5 years since the snap and the people around started losing their hopes for the lost ones. They started building a life without them since they knew even though the past was pleasurable, it was not coming back so they had to move on. Some have lost their parents, some lost their child and it sucked living this life without them. The memorial places were always crowded with people putting flowers but those pretty symbols that were destined to rot was not helping anyone. This had to be a new chapter in their life. The past was gone like their loved ones, everyone forced themselves to flip the page but two people were still working on the past to make it the present, Natasha and Steve...

They had gotten a lot closer since they were the only ones that never gave up. All Nat was doing all day for the first year was to work out on her own and eat peanut butter sandwiches like the ones Maria used to made for her. Then Steve slowly joined her in these habits to check her if she was doing well and it was too rare that she was. Nat’s room was filled with newspapers about the snap and research papers of SHIELD about the stones. Tony was nowhere to be seen so she decided to educate herself on the fields he was the master in. Although with all the work she wasn’t getting anywhere.

Nat’s journal that she kept for Maria to read when she get back was now running out of pages but her feelings for her were still the same. All she wanted was to have her back and appreciate every second she spent with Hill. 

Scott’s idea of time travel was the first lead they had for many years and it pumped hope through Nat’s veins. “She is going to come back.” she thought but she knew Scott’s knowledge wasn’t enough to pull something like this off so they went to talk with Tony. He was now living a low life in the woods with his family. When they got there Tony didn’t seem so thrilled to see them because he knew they needed him. Nat had some moment to speak alone with Tony. They were out there on the porch drinking the tea Pepper brewed for them.

“Tony, I know you don’t want to get into this again but we need you. Screw it, I really need you and your brain. The past 5 years were nothing but misery for me. I didn’t get my happy ending because my other part just went missing. Please try to help us.” Nat said staring into Tony’s eyes. Although he wasn’t looking at her because he was scared to see her vulnerability. It was Natasha Romanoff, the woman who never let her guards down in all of the years he had known her.

“That part of my life is now in the past. I’m sorry, Nat. I don’t know what to do.” Tony said still looking away from her. 

“You will figure it out, you always do.” Nat said when she put her hand on his shoulder for reassurance. 

“I have a daughter now, I can’t just go to the Avengers facility and work for weeks on a project. I can’t keep risking my life anymore, I am sorry.” Tony replied. Nat was heart broken, she really thought he would help them out. She took her hand back from his shoulder and locked her eyes on his while walking away. 

“It’s okay. I guess I would do the same if I got my happy ending. Goodbye Stark.” She head inside the house “Okay guys, we gotta go back.” Natasha announced to the group.

Everyone knew this meant negative response from Tony so they got ready to leave. Morgan sprinted across the room to hug Nat. “Aunt Natasha, please come again. You really are amazing.” she said looking at the red haired woman’s eyes. 

“I will try. Let’s go fellas.” Nat said placing a little kiss on Morgan’s cheek. She started walking to the car and the boys followed him. Scott was telling them that he could do it without Tony’s help. He would give it all but Nat was more helpless than before. 

Tony went back in the house and hugged Morgan. “Dad, aren’t you going to help your friends? You always taught me I should do my best to help my friends when they are sad. Aunt Natasha looked very sad.” she said playing with his hair. Tony realized she was right. No matter how happy he was, they deserved to be happy as well. He smiled at Morgan and went downstairs to figure something out. Nat’s words was not leaving his head. He couldn’t wrap his head around how sad she was. It was some time ago that Pepper told him she came out as a lesbian and was dating Maria Hill. After all these years he never knew. Maybe that was something that bothered him as well. She never was open about herself to anyone, her mind was just working on their missions. This time, the first time she was openly emotional, Tony turned her down. 

He felt really bad but now looking at his table, he figured it out. He figured how to time travel. This was crazy. He packed everything and said goodbye to Pepper and Morgan. He drove to the Avengers Facility as fast as he can. First thing he did when he got there was to find Nat. He found her in her room wearing sweatpants and sweatshirt looking over some photos on her desk. She looked at Tony and smiled, “You figured it out, didn’t you?” 

“Yep, let’s go bring your girlfriend back.”


	6. Chapter 6

Tony was right, he really did figured out how to time travel works. Everyone was surprised because it was such a topic, that became subject to many science fiction movies, and he just figured it out. Nat actually had no doubts that Tony could do it. She was looking at him smiling while listening to his orders. His eyes met her sparkling eyes and he couldn’t help but smile as well. He never saw Nat this happy before, she was actually glowing just with the idea of bringing Maria back. It’s been so long since Tony met Nat and she became so many things to him. To Pepper’s hot assistant to a successful SHIELD agent to a friend who he can trust no matter what. It’s been a long journey but seeing Nat happy like that was worth every trouble for him. 

After the meeting was over Tony patted Natasha on her shoulder while leaving the room and made his way to his room to get some sleep before the mission of their lives tomorrow. Nat was the last one to leave the room because she wanted to go over every step so she wouldn’t do anything wrong. After she was sure she got everything in, she also made her way to her room. She always loved to take a hot shower before a challenging mission so she slipped out of her daily clothes and stepped inside the shower. The shower was divided from the room with a small wall but there were no doors. She was looking around the bathroom while hot water was dripping down her naked body. 

She thought about the times she spent with Maria before the snap. The way she calmed her down after every Red Room nightmare she had, the way she always prepared what she would wear before leaving for work. She even missed the work obsessed parts of her. How she sometimes left their bed just because Fury called her but now just every moment she had with Maria seemed like the perfect moment. 

She closed her eyes and let the tears join the water going down the drain. She didn’t know why she was crying, she was going to see Maria again, soon. Just when she was deep in her thoughts she heard a voice inside the room and quickly covered herself much as she can.

“How are you my little spider?” Natasha heard from a very familiar woman’s voice. She opened her eyes to yell them to leave but she realize it was her. The woman she couldn’t stop thinking about for the last 5 years. She was standing there smiling at her. 

“Holy shit... Maria... how?” Nat said walking out of the shower. The water was still running behind her. Maria smiled at her and motioned her to stop. 

“Isn’t it better if I joined you?” Maria said opening the buttons of her shirt. Nat walked back under the water still shocked. She didn’t want to ask any questions, all she wanted was to hold her again. Maria left all her clothes on the floor and joined her in the shower. She smiling, slowly touched Nat’s shoulder and slipped her hand slowly to her neck. 

“I missed you, so much.” Nat said looking at her eyes deeply. That was when Natasha held her face and pushed her lips on hers. Maria quickly grabbed her by her waist and pulled her closer. When the kiss broke, Nat rested her head on Maria’s chest while she stroked her hair. 

“I missed you too... so are we now buying that cabin in Canada?” Maria said jokingly at her. “I mean I actually died so guess like that’s a retirement flag for me.” 

“How did you come back? The mission is tomorrow.” Nat said looking at her eyes “Did Tony saved you without us?” 

“Shh, shh non of those matter anymore okay? We are together. You, me and this is it.” Maria continued stroking her hair “Are you ready for the mission tomorrow?” 

“You are back, why would we go on a mission?” Nat asked really confused but she her happiness that her girlfriend was with her overcame that confusion. 

“You need to, for the others. Look promise me, you’ll do anything you can do. Don’t think about me, I will be fine. I love you but you must give your all for the mission. Whatever it takes...” Maria said holding Natasha’s face between her palms. Natasha had a very puzzled look on her face. 

“Maria, I don’t understand... whatever I don’t care. I have something to ask, I have been waiting five years for it. I know we are in a shower and this is not a very conventional...” Natasha kept talking until Maria split her words. 

“Yes.” Maria said smiling at her. 

“Yes, what?” Natasha asked. She knew that Maria understood what was going on but she had to hear it with her own ears.

“Yes you can adopt a cat.” Maria smiled at disappointed Nat’s face “and yes I will marry you.” 

Natasha got up and grabbed her face once again to kiss her but she felt her hands going pass her. Maria was smiling at her while she started dusting again. 

“N-no, NO MARIA! Please don’t go.” Natasha tried to hold her but she was already gone. She fell on the bathroom floor sobbing when she quickly took a breath and got up in her bed. She was all sweaty and still in the outfit she wore to Tony’s meeting. She reached for the glass of water when she heard her door open. She quickly looked at it and saw Steve running in with his shield. 

“Is everything okay? I heard screaming and some crying.” Steve said looking around the room to see if there are any threats. 

“Dude your room is like at the end of the corridor, how did you hear me from there?” Nat said while drinking her water. 

“That’s why I brought the shield, thought something bad happened to you.” He placed his shield at the door and sat on Nat’s bed. “What happened?” 

“I saw Maria in my dream but like it was so real. I saw her in my dreams so many times but this time she was there with me. I even proposed to her but then suddenly she was dusted... again.” Natasha said getting closer to Steve. He covered her with his arms and made her aware that she was safe. 

“Nat, you are just nervous about tomorrow. We will bring them back okay, whatever happen, we will.” Steve said looking at Natasha.

“I know, I know... I can’t wait to see her again. Thanks buddy, wanna sleep here today?” Nat said looking at Steve with the purest look she had. He of course couldn’t say no. He got comfortable in her bed and she put her head on his chest. She fell asleep knowing that she will see Maria for real this time. Steve waited for her to doze off so that he can leave but she looked so vulnerable that he couldn’t. He wrapped his arm around her and slept through the night.


	7. Chapter 7

In the morning, there was absolute silence in the facilities. Everyone was in their room either sleeping or dreaming about what’s going to happen after this mission. Natasha was asleep on Captain’s chest cuddled up as small as she can and Steve put his arm around her as support. He couldn’t sleep very well since Nat had some serious crying attacks in the middle of the night and he had to calm her down and say everything will be alright. He knew she was on antidepressants since a year after the snap but her dosage was not enough for her he thought. He sometimes found her crying on the training area but he didn’t want to say anything to her in those moments. The best thing to do in the facilities for Steve was to watch Nat do ballet on the basement. It was a way to calm down for her and she never knew Steve was watching - I mean she would probably kill him if she did- but it really calmed him down too. The way she moved with the notes and her sudden changes of expressions really was something to watch. 

Steve knew Red Room has scarred Nat pretty bad but he knew being apart from the love of her life who helped her became the person she is, was nearly as painful. 

“Good morning, Steve” Nat said still her eyes closed. Steve had no idea how she knew he was awake but he played with it.

“Good morning, did you have a good sleep?” Steve answered even though he was present for her screaming and crying in the middle of the night. 

“Better than most days...” she answered which actually broke Steve’s heart. She really was struggling through these horrible 5 years but he was just now trying to help her. 

“Good morning love birds, come on we got a girlfriend to save.” Tony said appearing from the door. He was already in the uniform he designed for the team and very up beat compared to his other days since the snap. 

“Morning Tony, go get your breakfast. We will join you.” Steve answered with a stable voice. Tony knew he was just trying to get him away so that he can talk to Nat but Tony decided to stay this time.

“Nope, I am not going anywhere. Why are you two so cuddled up?” Tony asked. He knew nothing happened but he was still curious. 

“I had a nightmare and Steve barged into my room. Now go to the cafeteria we are coming.” Nat was also trying to push Tony away for some reason. She really didn’t want to talk about her night terrors as well so she got up and stopped on her way to the bathroom. “Do you guys want to watch me shower or should I wait for you to exit?” 

She knew this made both of them very uncomfortable so they disappeared quite easily. Nat, as like in her nightmare, slowly got into the shower but this time her eyes were fully closed. She didn’t want to be played mind tricks again. She quickly took a hot shower like she did before every mission and braided her hair. She kind of liked this half blond half red hair do on her but she was really excited to see what Maria thought of it as well. She wasn’t really a fan of her blond hair but it was a change Nat had to do after all the civil war events.

Natasha slipped on her uniform, she was quite surprised that it fit because she really did lose a lot of weight in these past 5 years. She looked at the mirror on her room assuring that tonight she will be in her home with the woman she loved after long 5 years. With a faint smile on her face she made her way through the cafeteria. Everyone was already there eating something so she picked up a cup of coffee and sat next to them. 

“Really, just coffee?” Thor judged Natasha’s breakfast choice. Honestly there was 3 people worth meal in front of him so Natasha knew where to attack. 

“Oh I thought you picked breakfast for all of us.” she said smiling. There were a few chuckles around so she smirked at Thor while sipping her coffee. 

“Okay jokes aside, Thor is right. You need to eat something.” Steve added. Of course he was being the dad in the house. Nat got up and picked an apple to shut everyone up.

“You guys happy?” Nat asked of course sarcastically although there were some genuine nodds so she sat down and ate her apple. 

After the breakfast they all walked together to Tony’s time machine. It had a different name but Nat like to call it a time machine. They were all in place, knew what they have to so there was no better time to start then now. Nat was going over the plan in her head while Bruce was operating the machine. She was teamed up with Clint for the soul stone. She thought it took a small time for Thanos to get it so it wouldn’t be a problem for them.

Bruce after checking everything also joined the others on the platform. Nat looked around and only locked eyes with Captain. She vaguely smiled and said “See you in a minute.” 

“A minute.” Cap said to her when everyone started pushing the buttons to travel across time. It was crazy, they were literally going to the past. Nat, Clint, Sam and Nebula appeared at the same spot. They were discussing the plan when Nebula dropped on the floor “This was a bad idea, I shouldn’t be here.” she said. 

“What is going on? What do you mean?” Nat asked to her. She was pretty confused and didn’t know what to do. “Sam, an idiot, probably dancing, will come in some time. He has the key, I have to go back Thanos is trying to reach my vision.” Nebula said. 

They never thought about Thanos in the past being a threat but she was right, he was also trying to get these stones so Sam programmed Nebula’s device to go home and he assured Nat that he will be all right working alone. Nat hugged him and they got into their spaceship to Vormir. 

“Okay, so I wasn’t really present when you announced that you and Maria were a thing. How did it happen? I am dying to know.” Clint ask while smiling at his years worth partner. They used to do everything together, she even sometimes stayed in his place when she was feeling down.

“Well, it was after the Battle of New York. I worked with her for years before that but I never saw her like THAT you know. She got hurt after the battle so did I and we were in the medic together. Since there were worse injuries then ours, she managed to ignore her injury and looked after me. She was just so gentle and she was always smiling to make me feel better, I literally fell in love in the spot.” Natasha told him, Clint never saw her this eager to tell a story before. Her eyes were shining just with the idea of those moments. 

“After that it was a really long and hard road for both of us to admit our feelings for each other. She would ask me to her office to say something but we would just start making out. Still we weren’t girlfriends since we were both really scared to hurt each other. One day, I brought coffee to her office and found her crying. It broke my heart to million pieces and I wanted to do everything I could to cheer her up. Her dad passed away that day but she was there working because she had some paperwork to hand out. That day I asked her to be my girlfriend and she thankfully said yes. We had some arguments and a break up in the middle but at last we were pretty good... I actually was planning to ask her to marry me after I come back from Wakanda.” she said but the last words were really hard to get out. She never told anyone that before, she never told about to ready engagement ring she had on her pocket on Wakanda. She once again touched her bracelet just to see the error sign again. 

“We’re going to bring her back, I know it Nat. You will reach everything you planned. I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you for the last 5 years, I really didn’t know you were struggling this much.” Clint said looking at Natasha still her eyes locked at the bracelet she didn’t take off for 5 years. She smiled at Clint with gratitude “It’s okay, I hope the struggle is done now.” 

A few silent minutes later, they were finally at Vormir. Nat just wanted to take the freaking stone and go back as soon as she can. They walked towards a mountain and started climbing the road they had ahead. Nat was nervous, she thought it shouldn’t be this easy to gather one of the most powerful stones in the galaxy. “Wait there’s someone...” as Nat was exclaiming to Clint someone broke her words. 

“Natalia, daughter of Ivan. Clint, son of Edith. Welcome, consider me a guide between you and the soul stone. Now follow me.” The guardian started floating to a destination. Natasha with her gun out started following him but Clint held her from her arm. 

“Should we be following him? I mean he can be tricking us.” Clint asked but Natasha just continued following the guardian, so he decided to remain silent. They arrived on a side of a cliff, the guardian stopped. “To get the soul stone, you first need to sacrifice something you love. A soul for a soul.” 

Natasha knew exactly what he meant, either her or one her best friends was not going out of this planet. She needed to sit down, she knew she couldn’t let Clint jump. He had children, a family. All she had was Avengers and Maria. Maria... she thought the love of her life coming back from the dead and her not being there. She knew if Maria was with her here, she wouldn’t even think for a second to jump but she also knew that Maria would never let her. She once again touched her bracelet just to see the error sign again. Clint approached at her direction, she knew that he needed to be the one to walk out of this damned planet. 

“Nat, this man is lying. He has to be lying.” Hawkeye said looking at Nat desperately playing with her braid. She looked like she zoned out. 

“Clint, Thanos came here with his daughter but came back alone. He is not lying and we all know who should make this sacrifice.” She got up and looked at his eyes. All of their memories together raced through her eyes. “You gave me everything when you decided not to kill me and admitted me to SHIELD. You gave me a job that I loved, you gave me this family. If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have met Maria. Just let me be the one to return the favor.” Nat looked like she begged him, she couldn’t let him die not when his children will be waiting for him. How would she tell Nathaniel that his father died for her.

“Nat that was a long time ago, you did so much good to the world since then. So much more than me, and you will continue to do so. I was in a really bad place, did so much bad to this world. If it weren’t for you, I would still be doing that so you already returned every favor you owed. Go propose to your girlfriend and live the life you deserve. Please Nat for me.” Clint said with tears on his eyes. He held Nat tightly on his arms. 

Her silent weeps stopped and she said “Tell Maria, I love her so much.” She wiped her tears and started running towards the end of the cliff. Clint took out of a bow and shoot it next to Nat which knocked her out for a second. “Tell her yourself, after you propose.” He ran as fast as he can to the end of the cliff. He knew his children, his wife would be sad but he can’t let Nat die, they would understand. Just when he jumped, he felt Nat grip him. He quickly tied the rope to his arrow and wrapped the other end to Nat’s arm. He shot the arrow so that it would hold her.

He was now dangling with Natasha while she was trying to get out of her rope. “Nat, it’s okay. Let me go. It’s okay.” Natasha desperately tried to untie the rope but she couldn’t quite reach it, she looked at Clint trying to calm her down. “It’s not okay, I should be the one.” Natasha said while crying. 

“You have a whole life ahead of you.” Clint said still trying to take his hand from Nat’s tight grip. “Clint, don’t do this to me.” He smiled at her and pushed himself from the mountain to escape from her grip. She screamed while he was falling. Every great memory he had through his life went through his eyes. He saw Laura and the kids waving towards her when he touched the floor and just like that he was gone... 

Natasha looked at her friend’s dead body, her weeps got stronger but her vision was getting blurry. Just when she was about to block out she whispered to herself, “she better say yes.”


	8. Chapter 8

Natasha woke up in the middle of a lake on her back. She didn’t know how she got here but only thing she felt was the warmth in her palm. She slowly got up and opened her hand only to see the soul stone shining with full power. She looked around but there was nothing, she was all alone. This stone she was holding cost her one of her best friends. She got up and put the stone in the pocket Tony designed and looked around once more. Tears started escaping her eyes once again, she still thought it should have been her that made the sacrifice. Clint had a family and now they were going to know that she was the reason he won’t be there with them, She programmed her device to go back and pushed the button without thinking. 

Next thing she knew they were all standing in a circle with smiles on everyone’s face. The second she touched the floor, she dropped and started sobbing. Steve was the first one to approach her, he put his hand on her shoulder and said “Nat, what is going on? Where’s Clint?” 

Those were the questions Nat was most afraid of. “He died, for the stone. He... he died for me.” She didn’t have the emotional power to continue. She fully dropped on the floor and the tears were wetting her face. Steve stroke her hair and wiped her face. He was lost of words for the first time, he actually didn’t know what to say. He knew that Clint was a big part of her life and whilst trying to save her girlfriend losing him must have been so hard. 

After a little time she wiped her face, got up and handed Tony the stone. “Please take that away from me. It taken enough now it is time to save the others.” She tried to smile but her sadness got in the way of that. Tony took the stone from Nat’s hand and they all started walking to the room where the gauntlet was waiting. Steve had his arm around Natasha who still was taking some small breaths every now and then indicating that she was still crying.

Tony carefully placed all the stones while the others were carefully watching. “Okay, who’s going to wear it?” Tony asked. Nat quickly got out of Steve’s embrace “I’ll do it. Please just let me do it.” Natasha said. She looked so desperate but everyone knew this was way too strong for her. “Nat, it will kill you, then what would Clint’s sacrifice will be for? I should do it, I am the strongest Avenger.” Thor said getting ready to handle the gauntlet. Bruce quickly took it in his hands, “Sorry buddy, but you are not in your best shape. I can do it.” 

Tony nodded and hide behind the table as a guard so everyone found a spot to hide. Steve took Natasha and him under his shield. Tony ordered to get in a lockdown so all the security armor closed and the room was now fully locked. They all watched Bruce as he slowly put his hand in the gauntlet, screaming with pain while bright light started travelling all over his body. He didn’t wait too much to snap his finger and that snap really shake the whole team. Nat fell down so Steve threw his body as a guard for her. When the light disappeared and all the covers were open again they didn’t know if they did it or not. 

Scott was running to the window when Natasha heard the noise she had last heard 5 years ago. Her bracelet started beeping and her eyes got filled with tears of joy. She quickly reached for her phone to call Maria but it started ringing long before she can dial with her trembly fingers. She quickly opened it, “He..hey babe. Where are you?” She was smiling so much that everyone in the group was just watching her. 

“Are you crying? Okay I will take care of that when I come. Nick is now taking me to the facilities. Turns out if you appear in the middle of the road all of a sudden, a car will run you over.” Maria said to Nat. 

“Oh my god, are you okay?” Natasha replied she was now worried for her girlfriend.

“Yeah, I may have some broken ribs but seriously had worse. Can you alert the doctors they are very slow you know?” Maria said with her usual sarcastic voice. Natasha missed every little detail about her so still smiling she said “Yeah, of course. I love you so so much.” she hung up the phone. This was when she realized all the eyes that were on her through her phone call. 

“They are back but my girlfriend just got run over by a car so I need to go.” Natasha said sprinting out of the door. She never was this excited to see someone before. She hardly banged on every doctor on the facility’s door and yelled them to get up with some russian swear words sprinkled along. She sprinted to the front door where everyone was waiting for the big arrival. It wasn’t long after that Nick Fury approached the front gate. Natasha was jumping in her place when the car got closer. She was so excited to see her, the woman that changed her life. When the car stopped Nat couldn’t wait any longer and opened the back door to see Maria with her leg and chest covered in blood, smiling at her. She got in and before even giving Maria a chance to say hello, locked their lips together. 

This wasn’t a dream anymore, it really was her Maria. She was back after 5 horrible years. Her tears wetted Maria’s face but none of them cared. She was there with the woman of her dreams kissing like no one is watching but of course that wasn’t the case. “Agent Romanoff, will you please explain what is going on?” Nick Fury said looking at the kissing couple in the backseat. 

Nat broke the kiss smiling and looked at Fury. “Yeah, I am dating your best agent, I love this woman so damn much.” she said and started gazing into Maria’s bright blue eyes. The way they sparkled when she looked at Nat, that was what she missed the most. Nat grabbed her face and kissed her one last time before she picked her up to take her to the medics. She really was wounded but she did not care even a bit.

“Nat how much weight have you lost since I was gone?” Maria asked her worried.

“Maria, not now, the last 5 years was a misery and now it is all over let’s go patch you up.” Nat answered. She realized Maria didn’t know she was gone for 5 years. The shock on her face was something to be seen. After everyone greeted Fury, they all followed Nat to the medic. She slowly place Maria on the stretcher and kissed her forehead. She really couldn’t get enough of her, she is the best woman on Earth she thought. 

Nat didn’t let anyone even come close to Maria but she was always in touch with her. It was like a kid trying not to lose their mom in a big mall. Even when the doctors came to examine her, Natasha was always there holding her hand, placing little kisses when she felt like it. 

As Maria guessed, she had 4 broken ribs and a broken leg but she couldn’t care less. Nat was so happy to see her that nothing in her body could hurt enough to surpass that. A few moments later Captain came with a ringing phone on his hand, “Natasha, Laura is calling. Should I take it or will you?” 

Nat’s face changed drastically when she heard this question. She quickly dropped Maria’s hand and picked the phone. Hill realized that her eyes were getting full with tears. She opened the phone “Hey Laura, it’s Natasha. Can you come to the Avengers Facilities please?” she asked so desperately. Maria was so curious why she acted this strange with Laura all of a sudden. She knew they got along pretty well but this was strange. Where was Clint? 

Natasha with tears running down her face was still talking to Laura on the phone. “I know it’s a long drive, I can pick you up if you want, but I need to see you.” Natasha low key begged her. She must have agreed that Nat closed the phone and came to kiss Maria once again. “Steve will fill you in while I go pick up Laura okay? I love you and I can’t express how horrible I feel leaving you right now.” Nat said holding her girlfriend’s hand tightly. 

“I can bring them here if you want. I know their house.” Steve said even though he knew she would deny it. As she did insisting that she should at least do this. Nat kissed Maria one last time and ordered an agent something on her way out. Maria was really puzzled. She had no idea what was going on and she really wanted Steve to speak up as soon as he can. 

“So, why is my girlfriend acting so weird all of a sudden?” Maria asked since she couldn’t wait any longer. Steve told her everything, everything Maria missed in the last 5 years. To Nat crying in the training area to her private ballet shows... to her begging Tony to come back to Clint sacrificing himself for Natasha...

Maria was in shock, she was heart broken. She couldn’t believe what the most important person in the whole world for her went through all of that because she disappeared all of a sudden. She wiped the sudden teardrops that stripped across her face and looked at Steve. “Steve, can you bring me my jacket please?” she said pointing at the bloody and dusty jacket on the floor that Nat dropped before putting her on the stretcher. “Are you cold? I can give you my jacket or Nat has some in her room, that one is pretty dirty.” 

Maria smiled and answered “No, no just have to check for something.” Steve brought her jacket with some confused looks. She quickly reached for the pocket and took out a ring box. She opened it, “Thank god, it’s okay.” 

“Are you going to ask Romanoff to marry you?” Steve said smiling at Maria. She nodded and showed him the ring. It was a beautiful diamond with Black widow sign engraved inside. 

“I was going to propose when she came back from Wakanda but you know what happened.” she looked away. Steve knew Natasha was going to propose at the exact same time so he got a bit emotional. Before Maria could make fun of his teary eyes, Natasha barged in the room with Laura and the kids. Maria quickly hid the ring under her pillow while Nat came to give her a kiss. 

“Hey, Laura.” Maria greeted while Natasha once again started caressing her face. Laura looked distracted, heart-broken which was of course understandable. “Mom, why is aunt Nat kissing the scary lady?” Nathaniel asked and Laura quickly closed his mouth.

“Scary lady?” Maria asked smiling at the little kid, he shook his head and said “My dad was so scared of you.” Maria chuckled a little, she knew Clint had a finger in this. He was the closest one to figuring out something was happening between Nat and her so she was a bit more tough to him. 

One of the agents came knocked on the door to enter and Nat quickly took the box from her hands and closed the door. “This is all he left in his room. I am so sorry, I know it should have been me but he didn’t let me.” she said crying. Maria just wanted to get up and hug her but she was strained to her place so Steve instead did it. Maria felt a bit left out but it was nowhere near how sad she was to see Natasha like this. 

She was broken, like really really broken. The sparkling eyes she had, her big heart warming smile was nowhere to be seen. Clint was the reason she turned to SHIELD and met the love of her life. Even though Natasha couldn’t be more glad that Maria was right there, she believed it was her place to sacrifice. 

Clint’s funeral, planned all by Nat of course, was a little ceremony out in the woods where everyone said a few words to remember him. With every person standing behind that table, it was getting harder for Natasha to hold back her tears. With Laura’s speech though it was impossible for her not to cry. She damned herself that she put herself in the last place to talk. When Laura’s emotional rollercoaster of a speech was over, it was time for her to talk. 

She quickly wiped the tears on her eyes and got up. Her whole body was shaking and she did the only thing Maria continuously warned her not to do, reimagine his death scene. She couldn’t do it, it was too much. She fell to her knees and said to the microphone. 

“Clint... he was one of the best people I have ever knew. If I am here, it is all because of that jerk. It should have been me, I know he should be the one standing here right now. I am so sorry... I tried... I really tried.” 

Steve got up to pick Nat up and lead her next to Maria. She quickly embraced her shaking little body. She always hated when she said it should have been him but Nat was now too fragile to hear that. 

Through Maria’s recovery process, Natasha was always there for her. Through the rough nights she couldn’t sleep because of the pain she was in or all the physical therapy sessions she had to go through to get well as soon as possible. She really was struggling but Natasha was always there to help her out. 

She eventually started walking, then running and then directing people again. She was after all this time Nattie’s Maria again. It was the first day back at work after what felt like millions of years. While Natasha was still in bed, she got up and took out her favorite suit. She carefully put it on trying not to wrinkle it or wake Nat up. Just when she was about to put on her socks she saw something entering Nat and hers dressing room. She quickly get on her guard and looked at the door. When she saw the cute little black cat approaching into the room, she quickly started approaching it. There was a red ribbon tied to its neck with a key hanging from it. Maria took the little kitty into her arms and while started walking towards their bedroom. She was really confused but when she opened the door her confusion turned to full shock. 

There was Natasha with the dress she wore to their first date, on her knees with an open ring box on her hands. Maria with sudden tears on her eyes and a beautiful kitty on her arms looked at the gorgeous woman as she started to speak:

“I know, this is a little bit late but here you go. Masha, there was a time I believed that I was destined or trained to fly solo forever. I thought all that soulmate stuff didn’t apply to me. I thought that I was destined to always miss half of my heart. I never believed that I could find that person that I can tell everything I am and just look at their eyes to feel I belong somewhere. We had a rough relationship but after all these years I am just more and more in love with you. In those damned 5 years I realized that a life without you was not a good life to live in. I hate getting mushy but you did this to me woman you have to get used to it. I love you, I love you so fucking much. I tried to complete our perfect future so that cat, her name is Liho and she is carrying the key to our cabin in Canada. We made it Maria now all I need to ask for this future to be ours is this, will you marry me finally?”

Natasha’s eyes were sparkling looking at the beautiful woman standing right in front of her. Maria was frozen, her plan was to put on a suit get some breakfast and go to work but this was beyond her imagination. As Nat was looking right in her eyes she started shaking her head.

“Of course... yes but wait I need one condition...” she quickly put the cat on the floor and took off another ring box from her pocket “I was going to give this to you at my welcome back party but this is way better. Natalia Alianova Romanova will you too marry me, finally?” 

Natasha eagerly nodding her head saying yes and after they exchanged their rings, Maria quickly pulled Nat into a kiss. They really did it. Against all odds, they got the future they deserved. As the kiss deepened their tears covered each others face but they did not care at all. Liho jumped on Nat’s lap and they started giggling through their kiss. As they slowly pull away their eyes were shining with happiness and love towards for each other. 

Even though the past was blurred with sadness and despair, their future was now bright. Happy, in love, with a cat, in a cabin in Canada...


	9. Prologue

“Nat, come on where are you?” Maria yelled running around the house while trying to button her shirt. She was ready, but her soon to be wife was nowhere to be seen. She heard her voice from the laundry room so she quickly walked in there “Natasha freaking Romanoff what the hell are y-” 

That was when she saw the redhead in her beautiful white dress trying to tie the last two buttons up. Her hair was all over her face and she was looking at Maria with such cute eyes. “Oh wow, you look incredible...” Maria said trying not to drool over her fiancé. 

Natasha smirked and smiled at the panicking woman in front of her. “You.. you are out of this world too. Also, can you help me with the last buttons. I can’t reach them I just want to rip the whole dress off.” 

Maria quickly ran over and helped Nat while placing slow yet tender kisses to her neck. Being engaged to this incredible woman for 2 years was truly perfect but now they just wanted to sail off to the next chapter in their life. Nat turned around and held Maria’s face. Since she didn’t put her shoes on yet she had to tiptoe to kiss her but it was worth it. Maria slowly picked her up and put her on the washing machine as the kiss got deeper. Nat opened her legs but the dress didn’t let Maria get closer to her. “Too bad, guess you have to wait for tonight...” The brunette teased winking.

Here they were at their wedding with all their beloved ones and a little bit of press were waiting for them to walk the aisle. Maria with Nick Fury were the first ones to go. Fury accepted to walk her since her parents didn’t approve of her relationship with a woman. He also left them a very harsh voice mail too but Maria didn’t know about that. 

Maria settled next to her maid of honor Pepper as she smiled at the new bride. As she looked at the end of the aisle, she saw the most gorgeous woman walking with Tony. Her eyes were shining and her smile was warming every corner of Maria’s heart. She placed a peck on Tony’s cheek and as she turned around to stand next to her bride she saw someone... a very important person standing there “YELENA!” 

Nat screamed and hugged the little blond girl as Maria was smiling at the back. “How did you know? I couldn’t find a way to reach you. I really wanted you to be here.” she said still hanging to her hand.

“Yeah, that is because you are dumb. Maria found me very easily.” Yelena said looking over to the proud looking brunette. “I missed you Tasha you dummy, come here.” said the blonde while hugging Nat deeply. 

As their reunion ended, the ceremony started. Everyone looked so happy finally seeing these two love birds tying the knot. Both Maria and Natasha were smiling so much that their agents were constantly taking pictures of them to look in the future to remind themselves even hardass Hill can smile. 

As the ceremony proceeded it was time for the vows...

“Nat, I can’t even describe what I am feeling right in this moment. From the moment when I first realized I had a little crush on you to this second of me loving a woamn like you, a whole lot has changed. I mean we have a cat now, we sometimes go to our cabin but the most important thing is I found where I belong. I thought I’ll only be a soldier and an agent for a very long time, all started and ended in SHIELD. Now, I know where I’ll end up, with you, being your wife and to love you for forever.” Maria ending her vow smiling and crying while looking at the most beautiful woman in front of her.

Natasha wiped her tears and squeezed Maria’s hands with her smiling. All Natasha wanted to do was hold her wife’s hand forever in a room full of loved ones. It was now her turn to read her vow.

“Masha, you are literally the perfect woman, I never knew I was capable of loving one person this much-” as she was going on Yelena cut to the monologue “Me neither sister.” 

“Oh shut up.” Said Nat smiling at her. “Anyways, your existence in this world is all I need to be eternally grateful because without you,” Her voice started to crack. “ the world would just sucked.. so bad.” 

“Is THE Black Widow going to cry.” Yelena said mocking Natasha while she herself was also holding back tears. “Yelena, stop. Maria, I love you so, so much and whenever I leave your side I feel lost. You are where I belong, you are my everything. Please never ever get tired of me loving and caring all of you.” Nastasha concluded and huged Maria as tight as she can. 

That was it, that was the happiest moment of their lives walking through that aisle of hand in hand still wearing their matching bracelets -hoping it would never signal again- to that point and they knew with the each other by their side, they would always chase this happiness that they created inside SHIELD years ago, forever.

FIN

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would like to thank my beta reader because even though this was my first fic, she really stick through. ily <3


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